All you Lucys are 34-year-old. What have you been doing until now?
You have released one album and participated in some talent contests
before, haven't you?
We all had been in other bands already before
Lucy Was Driving was put together eight years ago. So it has been a
long journey for us to get this far. We did release our self-titled
debut album in 2010 and are about to release the second album later this
year. Before that we did few promotional CD:s and, of course, we tried
to send them everywhere we could. Back in 2005 one of the songs got to
semifinals of MTV Nordic's international competition but this didn't
include any live shows so I'm not sure does it qualify as a talent
contest.
You Otso are a doctor in physics. Do you or have you practised this profession?
Short
answer: no. I was working in the University of Helsinki as an research
assistant when I was doing my thesis so in addition to research I also
did some teaching of undergratuated students. After I got my degree two
years ago I started to fulfill my life long dream of having a real
recording studio of my own. The building was finally finished last
spring so my work is seriously music related at the moment
I know you have a studio where for example Haywalkers have been recording recently, tell us a bit more about this business.
Atomic
Spa Studios is obviously a business, but a big part of it is also about
having a creative place for practicing and songwriting - a cool place
to hang around. In addition to producing and recording bands we also
work closely with singer & songwriter -type of artists with a long
term development in mind - shaping the songs and style and such. Right
now the studio is also co-operating with an indie label Johnny Get The
Rifle in order to find a young Finnish rock band to join in a
compilation CD featuring Lucy Was Driving and few other bands. The
studio produces the songs and gives a great opportunity for some young
band to step up - something I'm sure all of us would have appreciated
when we were younger. And of course, Lucy Was Driving's "Dancing All
Around The Universe" was produced in the Atomic Spa, as well
How did you start writing songs and do you remember your first song you wrote?
It
would be hard to try to remember the first song I ever wrote. I was
playing my own little melodies with piano before I even went to school.
Somehow creating music has always been very important to me. When I got
older and took my first steps as a band member, the pieces of music
started resemble songs, I guess. To me making my own music has always
been as fundamental as eating or sleeping.
Tell a bit about your entry Dancing all around the universe. I think the drum beat is rather hunting....
Me
and Henri usually write songs together - one of us brings an idea and
then we see where we can take it. Dancing all around the universe was no
different, but for some reason it was left half way and forgotten
couple of years ago. Last spring, as we were going through some material
for the second album, I rediscovered that little scratch we had put
together. Although the arrangement wasn't good, I immediately though
that it has a huge potential - great catchy chorus and a nice dramatic
feel. The drum beat was introduced by Juho when we were playing the song
with the band to see what we could do with it. I enhanced the dramatic
feel by coming up with a wacky lyrics about the Big Bang and evolution
and the song was ready. We demoed that among some other songs when
we realized that we could send one of the songs into this UMK contest.
Honestly, Dancing all around the universe wasn't my first choice but
after we had recorded it properly I knew we'd make the right choice for
the competition
If you could work with any musician (living or not), who would it be?
There
are two musicians I've admired for years: Rivers Cuomo from Weezer and
Greg Graffin from Bad Religion. I find it hard to believe that we could
do any sensible work together but I would love to try!
You never know! And an ideal duet partner?
Somehow
I find it hard to imagine doing a duet with anyone. What would it be
like? A big love song with Celine Dion? Maybe it would be best to do it
with someone ultra-cool - like Snoop Dogg or Iggy Pop. I could just
stand still holding the mic trying to absorb some of that coolness.
Who are your idols, musical influences?
As
there are four people in the band, I can only talk for myself. My
musical roots are in the 90s skate-punk scene. Bands like Bad Religion,
NOFX and Lagwagon were the thing for me when I was a teenager. Although
my musical taste has evolved I still love that energy and honest
attitude. But no matter what the genre is, the killer songs and melodies
work every time. The Beatles, the first band I fell in love with,
proves that right.
Did you watch UMK last year and if so, what did you think?
I think I only saw one episode somewhere in the middle. Being where I am now, I wish I'd seen more
But I've always liked the concept of actually giving an equal
opportunity to every artist instead of directly going to major record
labels.
I think the quality of songs is much better this year, do you agree? Are you happy how everything is progressing in UMK this year?
I
can't really comment the songs last year as I can only remember a few.
This year there seems to be many catchy tunes, though. This makes me
happy to know that our little song was included as well. But, of course,
rightfully worried too, as this is a competition afterall. I
understood that last year audience didn't quite grasp how the contest
was going. It seems it's much clearer this year and hopefully there is
less confusion. The semifinals might still be a little weird as not all
the finalists go through that stage. But I think it's just about giving
as much exposure for artists as possible.
Are you an Eurovision fan and have you followed it? Should you win, would it bother you being labeled as Eurovision Lucys?
I've
never been an Eurovision fan although I've often enjoyed watching the
show. Somehow I think that the majority of Finns take it a little bit
too seriously. Like we always worry that other nations don't take us
seriously… In the end it's just a big show in it's own bubble - not much
related to actual record sales or music business in Europe. It's a
good question whether one should be worried about being labeled as an
'Eurovision-band' as it's not the perfect place to be as a rock group.
But the reality is that Lucy Was Driving is a relatively unknown band,
and if we would win the contest, the big exposure would be most
welcomed. I don't know would I be in any position to complain if that
would happen…
Any Eurovision favourites from the past?
Not
really. I think what Lordi did was totally awesome, though! They
actually got the show aspect and won the whole thing although lots of
people were critizising that they were representing Finns in the
contest, if my memory serves me right.
Any Eurovision song that you would have wanted to perform in the past?
Though one. Maybe something from ABBA…
We just saw this Thursday your first performance to the judges? How did you feel it went? Were you nervous?
Yes, we were nervous
We haven't been to a gig in quite some time and the whole stage was so
bizarre - only four judges as an audience and the camera crew… I think
we can do much better. I think we were the first act they shot that day
and we had to do our entrance twice as well as the beginning of the
song! This wasn't shown in TV, obviously. That kinda broke the
concentration though you should be able to perform well no matter what
the circumstances.
What do you think about their advice and opinions?
I
think everything they said was valid and after seeing the show
ourselves, we all agree. The vocals didn't sound the way they were
supposed to and we just have to be more careful. Though everyone know
their parts well, it's sometimes challenging to keep up that consistent
performance when taken outside the rehersal room. It's just about
practicing a bit more.
What can we except in the live gig at Circus?
When
we are talking about televised show the audience gets much closer than
in a real live gig. You can't hide anything from camera. If you lack
confidence, everyone can see it in your eyes. I think that's much more
important than any fireworks or such we could set up. I'm confident that
this will come naturally, as long as one is well prepared. But in
addition, of course we're going to take advantage of the bigger stage
and lighting etc.
Where were you when Lordi, another rocker won
Eurovision? Did you think one day you would be very close to that stage
as well (well, not Athens but Malmö...)
We were actually
celebrating mine and two other friends birthday in a restaurant we had
reserved for a big group of friends. The Eurovision song contest wasn't
really part of the schedule but somebody set up a radio to check how was
it going. We tuned in just as Lordi was confirming the victory. It was
amazing! The place was more of a small rock bar than a proper night club
so they run out of champagne pretty fast as everyone wanted to have a
toast! I never considered Eurovision as a serious choice for Lucy before it turned in to UMK, though.
How will you get your fans to vote for you in UMK? Are you busy in social medias and what plans do you have on that?
We are actually quite active in social media, Facebook mainly. We try to post pictures and status updates rapidly and in real
time, if something is happening. I don't think that there are any tricks
on getting fans, though. We just have to make sure that people know who
we are and what are we about to and then let them know when to vote.
Rest is up to the audience.
Thanks for the interview, Otso Would you like to say hi to the readers of Blogilkar?
Thanks
for this opportunity and interesting questions! I wish all the
Blogilkar readers an exiting year and hope to hear more from you again
Originally published January 14, 2013
Originally published January 14, 2013
Comments
Love this blog, btw.